Hand addressing-machine.



J. S. DUNCAN.

HAND ADDRESSING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV 17. I913 Q Patented July 80, 1918.

3 SHEElS--SHEEI' I.

J. S. DUNCAN.

HAND ADDRESSIFHI MACHINE.

v F MILZCATIUN FILED NOV. 1?, I913- 1 34 3bgg latvnted July 60, 1918.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

J. S. DUNCAN.

HAND ADDRESSING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV- 7. I913. l ,2'74,35UO Patented July 30, 1918.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

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t' ED STATES ATENT orrron JOSEPH S. DUNCAN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO ADDRESSOGRAPH COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

HAND ADDRESSING-MACHINE.

Application filed. November 17, 1913.

reference to small manually operated machines adapted for printin addresses or the like from sheet metal adc ressing forms or similar printing devices upon shipping tags, envelops, notices or other similar matter.

One of the primary objects of this invention is the provision of a machine of this general character which will contain a stack of address forms or other similar printing devices and will automatically feed these devices to printing position where an im-- pression can be taken therefrom by a manually operated platen. More specifically the invention contemplates the provision of novel mechanism for feeding the printing devices from the magazine to printing position which is capable of adjustment so that a new printing device will be presented in printing position at each actuation of the platen to 'print a different address at each operation, or adjusted to present a new address form to printing position at alternate factuations of the platen with the result that the machine will be adapted to duplicate, that is, to print the same address twice in succession, or may be adjusted to render the mechanism which transfers the printing devices from the magazine to printing position inoperative with the result that the same printing device remains in printing position for an indeterminate period to print the same address at each operation of the platen. 4

Other objects and many of the attendant advantages of 'this invention will be readily apparent as the same becomes better understood from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings in which one preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of a hand addressing machine embodying my invention;

Specification of Letters Patent.

Serial No. 801,327.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view through the machine disclosed in Fig. 15

Fig. 3 is a bottom view of the machine shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and i "Fig. 4 is a fragmentary plan view, showing the adjustable mechanism for controlling the feed of theprinting devices from the magazine to printing position.

On the drawings, reference character 5 indicates generally the frame of the machine which may be, and preferably is, cast to provide a solid base, the casting being suitably shaped to receive and support the various operating mechanisms which will be herein after described inv detail. Adjacent the rear end of the base I have provided a pair of upwardly projecting bosses 6 upon which the platen arm is pivotally mounted. The platen arm, as will be manifest from an inspection of Fig. 1, comprises two legs 7 and I 8, each pivoted upon one of the bosses 6, as

previously stated, and joined at their extremities to provide a head upon which the platen 9 is mounted in any preferred man ner. A grip or handle 11 is also. provided at the outer end of the platen arm which may be grasped by the hand of the operator for the purpose of depressing the platen into printing position. v

A top plate 12 of aluminum or other suitable material is secured upon the top of the bed and is provided with a printing opening 13 in alinelnent with the platen 9 through which the impressions are taken. The tags, envelops or other matter. to be printed are .fed into printing position by hand and for the purpose of properly registering them in printing position I have provided a side guide 14 adjustably mounted upon the plate-12 at one side of the printing opening. To provide for varied adjust ments the plate has a series of alined tapped openings 15 to receive a thumb-screw 16 which is adapted to be inserted through a slot 17 in the base of the guide .14, whereby the guide is securely held in adjusted position. The rear guide 18 is carried by a pair of rods 19, which project through opensired position on the plate 12.

A magazine 21 mounted on the rear end Patented July 30, 1918.

' rear ends are preferably guided upon suitthe plate 12 to provide a rigid bed 23 adapted to support the printing devices in print ing position and to absorb the shock of the platen. The printing devices are fed from the magazine to printing position on the bed by mechanism which will be later'described and an inking ribbon 24 is trained over the bed and spaced above the bed by lateral flanges on the bed (not shown) a suflicient distance to permit insertion and removal of the printing devices between the face of the bed and the ribbon. I The mechanism for feeding the printin devices successively from the magazine to printing position comprises a slide frame having sides 24 which extend longitudinally of the machine beneaththe magazine and at each side of the bed 23. These slides are provided on their upper edges with a plurality of notches or sockets 25 and 26, re-

spectively, adapted to receive the printing devices, the rear edges of the notches being perpendicular to engage the rear edges of the printing devices and carry the printing devices from the magazine toward the forward end of the machine at each reciprocation of the slides. The side bars of the slide are mounted in suitable guides and their able rollers 27.

The lower end of the arm 8 projectsbelow its pivot and is shaped substantially as shown in Fig. 2. A yoke 28 is pivotally mounted on a transversely extending shaft 29 and its upper end is connected with the 'side bars of the slide by a link 30 pivoted to the side bars and to ,the yoke at 31 and 32,

respectively, Midway its ends the yoke is provided with a transversely extending pin or rod 33 and upon the extremity of the lower end of the platen arm 8 I have pivotally mounted a link 34 which is provided with an elongated -open-sided notch 35 adapted to engage with the'rod 33 of .the yoke. A contractlon spring 36 fixed at 37 to the rear end of the machine and at 38 to a connecting bar of the link 30 normally tends to retain the transferring slide in its rearward position but when the link 34 is in engagement with the rod 33 the slide is moved to the position shown in Fig. 2 each time the platen arm is elevated. A contract-ion spring 39 attached at its upper end to a pin 41 projecting laterally from a rearward extension 42 of the platen arm 7 andatta'ched at its lower end to the frame of the machine is adapted to return the platen to elevated position after each printing operation andthis spring is of sufficient strength to overcome the weaker spring 36, tending to hold the transferring slide-in its rearward position. I, Controlling mechanism which will be hereinafter described, is adapted to disengage the link 34 from the pin 33 at predetermined intervals but this controlling mech-' anism is adapted to be adjusted so that it will, not act upon the link 34 and when this adjustment is effected the transferring slide will be reciprocated at each actuation of the platen to transfer a printingdevice' from v the magazine to printing position with the result that a new printing device is positioned ateach actuation of the platen and a different address is printed each time. The transference of printing devices from the magazine to printing position takes place as follows:

.Assuming that the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 2 and that a printing device 43 is engaged in the socket 25 and a simllar device 44 is engaged in the socket 26 over the bed 23 in position to print upon the next downward movement of the platen: When the'platen is moved downwardly the slide will be -moved rearwardly but the printing device 44 will be prevented from returning with the slide by a pair of dogs 45 pivoted on the frame of the machine adjacent to the slides and urged into operative position by contraction springs 46. The print-- ing device 43 will likewise be held against return movement by similar dogs 47 held in engagement with the rear edge of the device by springs 48. It will be observed that the forward edge of each socket 25 is inclined, as indicated by reference characters 49 and 51, to permit theslide to travel rearwardly with respect to the printing devices held by the dogs 45 and 47. WVhen the platen has reached printing position the slide will have moved rearwardly to dispose the socket 25 beneath the magazine and the lowermost printing device therein will drop into the socket to be carried forward upon return movement of the slide. The socket 26 will likewise be moved to a position beneath the printing .device 43, so that upon return movement of the slide, printing device '43 will be presented over the bed 23, the lowermost device of the magazine will assume the position of device 43 and the printing device 44 from which an impression has been taken will be pushed forwardly by the forward ends of the slides off from the bed and into a magazine 52 at the forward end of the machine.

su port53- is disposed in the magazine 52, said support being carried by a rod 54 (Fig. 3) journaled at the rear end of the machine and normally held in substantiallv the position shown in Fig. 2 by a contraction spring 55 attached at its lower end to said the machine.

rod and at its upper end to the frame of As the number of printing devices in the magazine 52 increases, their weight will be sufiicient to depress the support 53 against the action ofspring 55. It will be manifest that this construction obviates the fall of printing devices any appreciable distance when they are discharged into the magazine and at the same time provides a yielding and gradually receding support.

For the purpose of controlling the transferring mechanism so that a plurality of impressions may be taken from one printing device before it is discharged into the magazine or so that a printing device will remain indefinitely in printing position on the bed I have provided the following mechanism:

A rod 56 is mounted in the frame of the machine and provided at one end thereof with a hand knob 57 by means of which the rod may be moved longitudinally. This rod is, adapted for three different longitudinal positions and for the purpose of yieldingly holding the rod in each adjusted position I have provided it with three notches indicated respectively (a) (b) and (c), and' to facilitate the explanation of the various adjustments they will hereinafter be referred to as position a, position b and position 0. A spring-pressed plunger 58 is adapted to engage in any one of the notches to yieldingly hold the rod in adjusted position. Upon the rod intermediate its ends I have fixedly mounted a frame 59 having a forwardly extending arm 61, a shorter forwardly extending arm 62 and a rearwardly extending tail 63 provided with a laterally projecting pin 64, adapted to abut against the stop ()5 when the rod is adjusted to position 0 .(Fig. 3), the abutment 65 being adapted to prevent excessive movement of the rod in one direction and the knob 57 to limit the movement of the rod in the opposite direction.

Upon the arm (52 I have mounted a rotatable ratchet wheel (36 provided in the present instance with six teeth and upon the inner. face of the wheel is formed a cam 67.

The cam shown in the present instance is provided with three faces and is designed to adapt the machine for duplicating purposes, that is, taking two impressions from each printing device, but it should be understood that the shape of this cam may be varied as may also the number of teeth on thewheel 66, so that any desired number of impressions may be taken from each printing device before it is replaced by another. Upon the pin 68 carried by the forward end of the lower extremity of the platen arm 8 and upon which the link 34 is pivoted, I have n'iounted a real-wardly ixtending dog or pawl (35), this dog being adapted, when the parts are ad usted to position a, as shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4: of the drawings, to engage a tooth of the ratchet wheel 66 when the lower end-'of the platen arm is swung rearwardly and rotate said wheel and the cam 67 one-sixth of a revolution. Upon the forward end of the arm 61 I have pivotally mountednat 71 a lever 72 provided at its forward extremity with a laterally extending plate or trip 73, the rear end of the lever being held against the cam 67 by a contraction spring 74 attached at its upper end to the arm 61 and at its lower end to a pin 75 projecting from the rear end of the lever 72.

Assuming that the parts are in the positionshown in Figs. 2 and 4, the dog (39.upon actuation of the platen will rotate the wheel 66 and caln 67 to elevate the forward end of lever 72 into the position indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2. The plate or trip device 73 is now positioned in the'path of the link "34 and as the laten completes its downward stroke the link 3% will become disengaged from the rod 33, so that when the platen returns to elevated position the transferring slide and the yoke 28 will be retained in rearward position by the spring 36. Upon the next actuation of the platen the slide will not be operated and the second impression will be taken from the print ing device on the bed 23. Upon the second actuation of the platen, however, the cam will again be rotated a sixth of a revolution and the transferring slide forwardly to position a new printing device upon the return stroke of the platen.

It will thus be manifest that when the parts are adjusted to position 0 and the wheel 66 and cam (57 of the form shown are employed .the machine will be adapted to duplicate. By changing the size or number of teeth on the wheel (36 andthe shape of the cam (37 it will be obvious that three, four or any desired number of impressions might be talten from a printing device before it would be changed, since the ratchet wheel and cam determine the number of actuations of the platen that the transferring slide will remain idle.

Assume now that the rod 56 is moved inwardly into position I). This movement will carry the ratchet wheel (36 in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. t out of alinement with the dog (it). This adjustment should be made when a high portion of the cam 67 is in operative relation to the lever 72. so that the tripping plate 73 will be in levated position. It will be obvious from Fig. 4 that the tripping plate 73 extends laterally from the lever 72 a sufficient distance to lie in the path of travel of the link '34 when the parts are .adjusted to position b with the ratch'etwheel 66 out of ahnement with the dog 69. The tripping plate will,

therefore, prevent engagement of the link 34 with the rod 33 at each actuation of the platen with the'res ult that the transferring slide will not be operated at all and the same impression willbe made by the printing device on the bed at each actuation of the platen. In other words the same impression will beprinted continuously for the reason that the printing devices are not changed.

When the 'parts are adjusted to position a by moving the rod 56 in still farther, the tripping plate will be moved in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 4 out-of the path of travel of the link 34 and the link will,"

therefore, remain in continuous engagement with the rod 33 to reciprocate the trans ferring slide-at each actuation ofthe platen When the parts are adjusted to this position,

therefore, a new printing device willbe presented at each printing operation.

It will thus be manifest that my present machine is equipped with adjustable con.-

' trolling mechanism so that the machine may be adapted for printingone address continuously, for duplicating or for printing "a new address at each operation.

The ends of the inking ribbon 24, which surrounds the bed 23, are connectedrespectively to-ribbon rolls 7 6 and 7 7, which are actuated by a suitable mechanism from a rock shaft. 78 which is rocked at each actuation of the platen by a link 7 9 connected at its lower end to an extension 81 from the shaft 78 and at its upper end at 82 to a rearward extension of the platen arm 8. The

details of the ribbon feeding mechanism may be of any preferred construction and since they are not a part of my present invention a detailed construction of this mechanism is considered unnecessary.

It is believed that my invention and its mode of operation will be readily understood from the foregoin without further descrip tion and it shoul be manifest that various .changes in the details of construction disclosedvmay be resorted'to within the purview of .my invention and without exceeding the connecting means for reciprocating said slide from said platen, and manually operable mechanism for controlling said connecting means whereby said slide may be actuated at each operation of the platen or at alternate operations of the platen or may be rendered totally inoperative.

3. In an addressing machine, the combination of apivotally mounted platen arm, a platen carried thereby, a magazine containing a stack of'printing devices, a reciprocatory slide and means cooperating therewith to transfer the printing devices successively by a step-by-step movement from the magazine to printing position, connections between said platen arm and said slide for operating the slide from the arm, and adjustable controlling means adapted to break said connections to permit a predetermined number of actuations of the platen arm without operating the slide.

4. In an addressing machine, the combination of amagazine adapted to contain a supply of printing devices, a reciprocatory slide and means cooperating therewith to transfer said printing devices from the magazine to printing position, a pivotally mounted platen arm, a link connecting said laten arm with said slide for operating said slide from said arm, and adjustable controlling in'eans including a cam-controlled tripper for releasing said link at predetermined op' erations of the platen ar i I 5. In an addressing machine, the combination of a pivotally mounted platen arm, reciprocatory mechanism and means cooperating therewith for transferring printing devices to printing position, a link normally connecting said platen arm with said transferring mechanism for operating said transferring mechanism from said arm, a cam, a tripper lever controlled by said cam and adapted -when in operative position to release said link, and means carried by said platen arm for operating said earn.

6. In an addressing machine, the combination of a pivotally mounted platen arm, reciprocatory mechanism and means cooperating therewith for transferring printing devices to printing position, a link connecting said arm with said mechanism, a rotatable cam provided with a ratchet wheel, a tripper lever engaged with said cam and adapted to release said link to break the connection between said platen arm and said reciprocatory mechanism, a dog carried by said platen arm inposition to actuate said ratchet wheel,

and means for moving said ratchet wheel and tripper arm laterally into and out of ahnement with said dog and linkrespectively.

7. In an addressing machine,-the combination of a pivotally mounted platen arm, a dog carried by the lower end thereof, reciprocatory mechanism and means cooperating therewith for feeding printing devices to printing position, a link connecting said arm with said mechanism, a longitudinally adjustable rod, a pair of arms mounted on said rod, an integral ratchet wheel and cam rotatably mounted on one of said arms, a tripper lever mounted on the other arm, and means for holding said tripper lever in engagement with said cam, said lever when in operative position being adapt-ed to release said link, said ratchet wheel being intermittently rotated by the dog on said platen arm 'to control the position of said tripper lever.

8. In an addressing machine, the combination of a pivotally mounted platen arm, a magazine adapted to contain a supply of printing devices, reciprocatory mechanism and means cooperating therewith for transferring said printing devices from said magazine to printing position by a stepbystep movement, a link normally connecting said platen arm with said mechanism whereby the mechanism is actuated from said arm, and controlling mechanism for disconnecting said link from the mechanism at prede termined periods, said controlling mechanism comprising a tripper adapted to be disposed in the path of movement of said link, and cam mechanism for positioning said tripper, said cam mechanism being adapted to be operated from the platen arm upon actuation of said arm.

9. In an addressing machine, the combination of a pivotally mounted platen arm, a magazine adapted to contain a supply of printing devices, and means connected with said arm for transferrin the rinting devices successively by an intermittent movement to printing position, said means comprising a reciprocatory slide providedwith sockets to receive the printing devices' and a plurality of spring pressed dogs for holding said devices against return movement with the slide in the forward position, to which they have been carried by forward movement of the slide.

10. In an addressing machine, the combination of a magazine adapted to contain a supply of printing devices, a bed, a platen movable toward and from the bed, a reciprocatory slide, a plurality of dogs cooperating with said slide to transfer printing devices from the magazine to the bed with a step by step movement, connecting means for reciprocating said slide from said platen, and manually operable nechanism for controlling said connecting mea us wherebysaid slide'may be actuated at each operation of the platen or at alternate operations of the platen or may be rendered totally inoperative.

JOSEPH S. DUNCAN.

Witnesses:

WM. 0. BELT, M. A. KIDDIE. 

